User Interface and Design View

Jaspersoft Studio is based on the Eclipse platform. If you have worked with Eclipse, you are likely familiar with the user interface. “Jaspersoft Studio User Interface” shows a preview of the Jaspersoft Studio interface, with the main areas highlighted. Some views have additional menus and actions, accessed through icons in the upper right of the view.

Jaspersoft Studio User Interface

This chapter has the following sections:

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Eclipse Interface

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User Interface Components

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The Design Tab

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Understanding Bands

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Specifying Report Properties

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The Preview Tab

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Exporting Reports with Jaspersoft Studio

Eclipse Interface

In Eclipse terminology, the initial layout of the Jaspersoft Studio interface is called a perspective. The default Jaspersoft Studio perspective contains an editor area and views. Some views appear by themselves, while others are stacked together in tabbed notebooks. You can open and close views and drag them to different positions in the Eclipse workbench.

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To open a window you have closed, select Window > Open View from the menu. Select the window you want to open from the drop-down list.

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To reset the interface to the default perspective, select Window > Reset Perspective.

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To save a perspective, select Window > Save Perspective As and enter a name for your perspective.

Learning More About Eclipse

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If you are setting up Eclipse for a team, search the internet for a phrase such as "configuration management for Eclipse".

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To work with version control such as CSV, Git, or SVN, use the corresponding Eclipse perspective included with Jaspersoft Studio. To add a different perspective, click at the upper right of the Eclipse interface and select the perspective you want from the Open Perspective dialog. Once a perspective has been added, you will see an icon for it at the top right. Use this perspective for all interactions with your version control repository, such as checking out projects, synchronizing files, and resolving conflicts. For information about working with a particular package, use an internet search such as "Eclipse Subversion". To return to the Jaspersoft Studio perspective, click .

User Interface Components

Jaspersoft Studio has a multi-tab editor, which includes three tabs that allow you to interact with your reports in different ways: Design, Source, and Preview:

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The Design tab is the main one selected when you open a report file and it allows you to graphically create your report.

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The Source tab contains the JRXML source code for your report.

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The Preview tab lets you run the report preview after having selected a data source and output format.

You can explore the data using the following views:

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The Repository Explorer view maintains the list of JasperReports Server connections and available data adapters.

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The Project Explorer view maintains the list of the projects in the current workspace, usually a Jaspersoft Studio project.

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The Outline view shows the complete structure of the report in a tree. When the Design or Source tab is active, clicking an element in the Outline view highlights that element in the editor. The Outline tab is empty when the Preview tab is active.

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The Properties view lets you view and edit the properties of the element that is currently selected in the report editor or in the Outline view. The properties shown depend on the type of element. For example, the Properties view for a table shows four tabs: Appearance, Dataset, Table, and Advanced, while the Properties view for a line shows Appearance, Borders, Line, Inheritance, and Advanced. Some properties are read-only, but most are editable. When the root node of a report is selected in Outline view, the Properties view shows the properties for the report.

Unlike many other views, you can open multiple instances of the Properties view at one time and you can pin a selection to a specific Properties view instance. This allows you to view or edit the properties for a specific element while working with other elements in your report, or with another report entirely.

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The Problems view shows a list of problems and errors that can, for example, block the correct compilation of a report.

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The Report state summary provides statistics on report compilation/filling/execution. Errors are shown here as well.

This comparison table shows the differences in terminology between iReport and Jaspersoft Studio.

Comparison of Features in iReport and Jaspersoft Studio

iReport	Jaspersoft Studio
JasperReports Server Repository	Repository Explorer
Report Inspector	Outline view
Report Designer	Report editing area
Problems List	Problems view
Elements palette	Designer Palette
Formatting tools	Available via context menu on the element
Property sheet	Properties view
Styles library	---
---	Project Explorer
iReport Output window	Report State summary